


Burden

by xDinahQueenx



Category: DCU - Comicverse
Genre: Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-22
Updated: 2010-05-22
Packaged: 2017-10-09 15:42:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/88982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xDinahQueenx/pseuds/xDinahQueenx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It must have been something in the air that night, that brought up thoughts of family lost.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Burden

**Author's Note:**

> _I, once upon a time  
> Carried a burden inside  
> I sung a last goodbye  
> A broken rhyme I had underlined  
> There's an ocean of sorrow in you  
> Sorrow in me…_   
> **"Burden"  
> -Opeth**

Fireflies blinked in and out of existence in the twilight of a humid summer day in Central City. Lenny was fairly certain that he had arrived in Avernus mid-day, and that he'd wasted the day just… staring and drinking. There was no special occasion, no reason to feel so morose except that he was. And maybe he was just getting old. He could feel the ache in his bones from the position he'd been standing in for god knew how long. The alcohol hadn't numbed him at all and as his eyes refocused, staring at the stone marker of someone who had fallen way before their time. Lenny turned from the headstone and took a few minutes to regain something like composure.

He cleaned his bottles up and made a decision to return home. There was nothing but pain here… nothing but pain and a stark reminder of failure. There'd been too many burials since they'd started this whole thing… but in a sense, Lenny needed this. Pretending he wasn't affected was all well and good… but he hadn't had _much_ in the way of family before. And the Rogues were his family now.

They were from different walks of life, but they still had so much in common. Lenny paused at the archway that would take him to the rest of the cemetery. It seemed like he was walking away from this place more and more lately. He pinched the bridge of his nose to shake the feeling, and then headed on his way… back to his apartment. Tonight… well, he felt like he wanted to be alone. Maybe. As he walked back to his place, he briefly thought of calling Angie, just another way to get lost, another way to run. For considering himself as brave, he ran from an awful lot.

Lenny didn't take too long to get home, he knew the back ways and short cuts like a map permanently ingrained in his mind. The lines that never blurred for him… he knew a lot more of them did. His chest felt tight, the air making it hard to breathe. Or maybe he just wanted to blame the heat. This was the weather Mick loved, this was the weather Lenny hated. Then again, he hadn't really felt warm in a long time, so he supposed that wasn't really an issue.

He blasted the air conditioner, turned on the television, and slumped down on the couch, closing his eyes. Lenny didn't know what was wrong with him tonight, but he was damned sure going to get over it… one way or the other. He was pretty sure he dozed off a time or two, and it was completely dark out… the moon obscured by sudden storm clouds… when a knock on the door woke him. Lenny groaned quietly and wondered if whoever it was would just go away if he ignored the door. But on second thought, Lenny wasn't as sure he wanted to be alone as he'd been when he first arrived at home.

Even so, Lenny was more than surprised to see that his visitor was Mark. He looked _bad_ though, dark circles under his eyes which were red and puffy. Lenny didn't even ask what he wanted, just stood aside and let him in, and got him a beer. After the first one was gone, Lenny coaxed him in to telling him what was wrong with a secret hope that it'd take his mind off of his own pain.

But as Mark seemed to be having thoughts about his own deceased family members, seemed to be taking it harder than normal, all Lenny could do was sympathize. Because there was nothing else he _could_ do. He couldn't make it better, he couldn't make it right… and seeing Mark like that was… enough of a reason for him to do… something like open up.

Vaguely, he recalled something about shared sorrow… enough of it to know the adage was completely false. The feelings weren't lessening and he could tell when Mark laid his head on Lenny's shoulder, his body shaking with silent sobs. Lenny wrapped an arm around him, rested his head against his, and wished he could do more.

The only recourse, maybe not the only one but the one that Lenny thought of, was to help Mark in ways that he could. A shoulder to cry on… and perhaps… more. Lenny wasn't sure what he was doing exactly, so rare was he the aggressor in these situations. He shifted, brushed Mark's tears away with his thumbs, then leaned in to kiss him. Gentle, tentative at first… then more demanding.

He wasn't sure what it was exactly, Lenny didn't know why he was doing this, but Mark looked up at him, questions in his eyes. Questions Lenny had no answers for… but it was preferable to the sorrow that had been there before… that he knew his own eyes had had. He kissed him again, fingers sliding beneath the hem of his shirt. Calloused fingers over smooth skin, scars in a few places, but Lenny barely noticed those.

Mark moved then, wrapping his arms around Lenny's neck… and kissed him back with more intent than Lenny had been able to must. Soon, fingers were twisted in his hair and Mark was taking the lead. And Lenny let him, warmth rising within.

Mark pulled back from the kiss, eyes dark now, and stormy for another reason that caused Lenny's heartbeat to quicken and his breath to catch in his throat. If anyone asked later, he'd say it was from the heat of the summer, despite the air conditioning working overtime.

Mark gave him the faintest of smiles and leaned back in, his mouth going to Lenny's neck, his hands pushing his shirt up, fingers warm and sure against his skin. Lenny closed his eyes and let the sensations overtake him. Let his mind let go.

And maybe he just wanted to feel closer to someone.


End file.
